Another Chance

This month, Sounds True published a new, expanded edition of Inside the Miracle: Enduring Suffering, Approaching Wholeness, which gathers twenty-eight years of my writing and teaching about suffering, healing, and wholeness, including thirty-nine new poems and prose pieces not yet published. One of the great transforming passages in my life was having cancer in my mid-thirties. This experience unraveled the way I see the world and made me a student of all spiritual paths. With a steadfast belief in our aliveness, I hope what’s in this book will help you meet the transformation that waits in however you’re being forged. The following piece is an excerpt from the book.

ANOTHER CHANCE

It’s harder to hold onto things.

I’ve broken several bowls while

drying them, including the one of

a kind Nick gave my wife Susan.

Another chance to practice frailty.

I need to take more care in how I

lift, to let things settle in my palm

where I can feel them more than

carry them. And lately when our

dog eats too fast, she gets sick. So

now we squat beside her and make

her wait. She stops and chews and

we look at each other. These tender

moments opened by limits make

me stop in the market, watching

everyone handle fruit. I aspire

to stay tender. The softness of

light is everywhere.

A Question to Walk With: In conversation with a friend or loved one, describe a limitation you are experiencing. How are you making peace with this?